Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with car and driving

Winterising my car

Solomon — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:16:53 -0800

Is it safe for me to add methylated spirits to the screenwash reservoir on my car during this cold snap? Is there anything else I should or shouldn't use? I'm not so bothered by the cleaning ability as by the anti-freezing properties. I have both meths and 99% IPA on hand. Is there some other household product that I could use?

I realise I can buy winter screenwash, but that's not what this question is about.

Driving in Brazil (RJ)

tss — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:31:02 -0800

We are considering renting a car and driving from Rio de Janeiro to Paraty and back. Advice? My S.O. and I will be in Brazil for the next week or so. We are staying in Rio, but for the last few days of our trip, we plan to spend time in Paraty. We've been thinking that we might rent a car and drive there from Rio, then drive back to Rio before catching our flight home. Does anyone have any experience with this, or pointers? More specific questions (answers to any one of them would be most welcome):

1. When is the best time of day to leave Rio de Janeiro, and when is the best time to return? We imagine that broad daylight is the best time to be driving in Rio, but are there any more specific times? (Luckily there will be a lot of broad daylight this week in Rio.)

2. What's the best way to leave Rio from the Zona Sul?

3. What should we expect from the BR-101 road along the coast?

4. What should we watch out for (e.g. traffic jams) when planning our trip back---to an airline flight we really would rather not miss?

5. Is there a particular kind of insurance we should get here, before we leave, or there, when we get the car?

6. We are confident, patient drivers in the US and wouldn't bat an eye at Manhattan or downtown Philly, say, but have not driven outside of USA/Canada or western Europe before. Is this car trip advisable or should we just take the bus?

I should add that we don't speak Portuguese, although we've had some luck reading webpages and such through triangulation from French, Italian, and Spanish. Naturally, we would plan to limit the need for conversations along the road by driving conservatively, during off-peak hours, at the speed limit.

On The Road To Feeling Weird

mmmbacon — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:27:26 -0800

Why do I feel so weird when I return home from a long car trip and how can I prevent these feelings? Every time I take a long car trip, I feel very out of sorts when I get home. I always feel tired, restless, emotionally drained and generally icky. This never happens when I arrive at my destination, no matter how long the trip there is. Also, I feel just the same whether or not I am doing the driving.

I think fuzzy dice are actually kind of cute

kerning — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:50:56 -0800

What's a good present to buy a 25 year old newly licensed driver? My female coworker is (maybe) getting her driver's license this weekend, after 25 years of begging rides from her friends. I thought it would be nice for my department to give her a little congratulations present, since we have done nothing but listen to her stories about her driving lessons progress for the past 6 months. But I have no ideas.

One hitch is that she actually doesn't have a car, nor does she have plans to get one anytime soon - she'll be relying on Zipcar when she needs to go somewhere outside of the city (DC). So we can't buy her the normal fuzzy dice/carmats-type present.

Anything Prime-eligible from Amazon preferred, or things I can get locally (NoVa/DC area).

The license plate game doesn't work when all the plates are from the same state.

hamsterdam — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:30:41 -0800

What are some challenging, competitive games two people can play in a car (one being the driver)? I've agreed to drive my roommate from Hollywood to the Long Beach airport during rush hour, a trip that I'm estimating will take between 45 minutes and 2 hours.

What games can we play that will make the trip more bearable? Most "car games" seem to be for long road trips; hopefully this trip won't last quite that long.

Looking specifically for games to play while:

- sitting in traffic
- stopped at a red light
- driving on surface streets
- driving on the highway

When should I get a new car... for safety reasons?

cheapskatebay — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:42:30 -0800

When should I get a new car... for safety reasons? To what extent should safety improvements be taken into consideration when deciding to buy a new car (or a used car with more modern safety features than one's current car)?

I'd like to take one of my comments from an earlier question - please see here - and pose it as a question for the hive mind.

I drive a 1998 manual transmission Toyota Corolla, which was paid off years ago. It's reliable, fuel-efficient, and has front airbags (not side-curtain, though) and anti-lock brakes. I drive a lot in the city and seldom on the highway. Only 75,000 miles so far, and I add perhaps 7,000 or so to that total per year. My seven- and five-year-old kids occasionally ride in the car (perhaps 1-2 times per week for each) but it is primarily an econobox for commuting. I make every effort to drive safely and conservatively.

How might (or did) the availability of electronic stability control, side curtain airbags and/or another safety feature affect your decision to buy (or not to buy) a new car? Houstonian had a good reply to my comment in the earlier thread about the importance of driving defensively... I'd assume that is every bit as important as having the latest safety features, but is that an accurate assumption? Are IIHS crash study results useful in this analysis?

For environmental and financial reasons, I'm biased toward driving the car into the ground. I'm concerned that I'm giving safety short shrift in my analysis, however.

Many thanks in advance.

Mythbust supermarket petrol for me, please.

Lorc — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:18:19 -0800

Is supermarket petrol bad for my car? It seems to be common knowledge that supermarket petrol from Tesco, Asda or what have you stations is inferior to the stuff from a "proper" petrol station. That it damages the engine in the long run for any of a variety of vague and poorly explained reasons.

Is there any substance to this idea, or is it just superstition? Googling gave me lots of conjecture but nothing authoritative.

UK-centric in case it matters. Thanks.

Does electronic stability control help out in winter driving conditions?

puritycontrol — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:57:13 -0800

Will I need electronic stability control for winter driving? Please help this California native and recent Texas resident decide on a car to buy before my first "real" winter in northern Illinois begins. Having been lucky enough to spend my life so far in the warmer areas of the country that don't believe in seasons, we've just moved to the DeKalb area and I'm faced with the daunting prospect of driving in snowy and icy conditions. I've been told that roads are generally quick to be plowed/iced when the snow falls, so I'm wondering if stability and/or traction control are realistically going to add that much benefit during winter if I stick to paved, well-traveled roads and highways (and drive carefully). Sites I've seen on the internet say that both are must-haves, but I'm more interested in your real world experiences with winter driving.

In case you're curious, we're looking to replace our '95 Accord V-6 with a pre-owned 2005-2007 Accord (I've gone this route because of brand loyalty, gas mileage, and budgetary reasons). From what I've gathered, only the trims with a V-6 from these years come equipped with stability control (and NOT traction control). 2008+ Accords come with stability and traction standard on all trims, although they are a bit outside of our budget range. I've also played with the idea of getting a newer CR-V, but again, it's skirting the limits of our budget. The car will be used primarily to get me to and from work; we have an Odyssey to haul the family around in. Other car suggestions are welcome.

Expired Registration Question.. looking for advice:

sandmanwv — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:21:02 -0800

What is the likelihood for being pulled over in a faraway state for expired tags and what are typical penalties? It would be one month overdue if that changes both answers. I went out of the country for three months and in the middle of the trip realized that my car registration would be set to expire 2/3rds the way through.

I am in the midst of a move from one state to the other (IL to NC); I will be registering my car there as soon as I arrive. But I have to drive through three states (and around 10 hours of driving) to get to NC. (My car is parked in Northern Virginia.. the states would be WV, VA and NC).

I see my four options:

A)When I visit IL (with another car), pay the $100 to re-register my car for 2 weeks. This would simply require me to come with the renewal and pay and I get a sticker.

B)Register my car in VA. This would require me to retitle my car and get it inspected. Total cost ~$80, though I could get ticketed on the 1/4 mile ride to the station. When I get to NC, simply retitle and reregister car there. Would this be viewed with suspicion by NC DMV?

C)Illegal: drive car as is to NC, hopefully not get stopped; if stopped, explain situation, expect the worst, hope for a warning.

D) Other less savory options?

Really I'm analyzing my risk. $100 seems to be steep to pay for a couple weeks of registration-- but a $150 fine is worse. Impoundment is even worse. But what are those chances?

Note: let me know if this past the bounds of the forum and I apologize if so.

What do I absolutely have to include on a 1990s hip-hop CD?

allymusiqua — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:06:56 -0800

MusicFilter: Making a CD of awesomely catchy 90s-00s hip-hop/rap music. I'm driving with friends from Idaho to Wisconsin and needless to say, we're going to need hundreds of CDs to keep things interesting. I want to make a CD of ridiculous and well-known music from the late 80s to early 00s with songs that make people say "WHATTTT I HAVEN'T HEARD THIS SONG IN FOREVER! TURN IT UP!"
What do you suggest?

The car has become a secular sanctuary for the individual, his shrine to the self, his mobile Walden Pond. ~Edward McDonagh

anastasiav — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:05:17 -0800

My husband and I have a longstanding dream of driving cross country on the small highways and byways of America. As we inch closer to this reality (we're now fairly firmly looking at doing this in five years, when our son is old enough to remember the trip), we've started doing the financial planning for it. My question to you: What is the best car (type or brand) for a very tall family of three to drive across America in? We do want to take gas milage into account, but can't imagine that doing the trip in a Prius (for example) would be comfortable in the long run. But, on the flip side, we don't want a huge van or RV either.

Help us plan! What's your pick?

Paying out of pocket and preventing future involvement of car insurance co.

ecsh — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:57:29 -0800

If I pay out of pocket for repairs to another driver's car, is there a form I can ask him to sign to prevent later involvement of insurance companies? As I was backing slowly out of a parking space this afternoon, I bumped into another car. The other car was driving through the parking lot and not yet in a space.

The collision was so gentle that I didn't actually feel it, and the only damage to my car was a small crack in the paint on the corner of the rear bumper. The other car was a two-door model, and the only damage that we could see was a dent in the panel just behind the driver's door. The dent was about a foot across and looks like something that might easily pop out, but then there's the issue of repainting.

The other car belongs to the driver's brother; it is unquestionably still drivable and both the driver and owner live nearby. I admitted fault, but I pointed out that it was raining and that the other driver had not turned on his headlights, which certainly contributed to my failure to see his car. I'm in PA, where headlights are required when wipers are in use, and it was raining hard enough for that.

Given the headlight issue, I asked that the driver do me the favor of communicating to the owner that I am interested in paying out of pocket and not getting insurance companies involved. We exchanged contact and insurance information amicably, and the driver mentioned it was possible that his brother would decide to let the whole thing go (not that I'm pinning my hopes on this).

1. My guess is that repairs will run $200-400, and in this range I would rather pay out of pocket than report it to my insurance company and deal with increased premiums for years. Are these estimates reasonable?
2. I've never before been in a car accident where parties other than myself and a deer were involved. Is settling w/o involving insurance in any way illegal? If not, is there some standard form I could ask the owner to sign, when I hand over the check, to establish that the issue has been settled and prevent him from seeking money from my insurance company?
3. Would the driver need to sign the form mentioned above? I don't think there are any medical issues, but we did not discuss that explicitly.
4. If costs spiral out of control somehow, and I decide that I would rather have my insurance company cover the cost, how much of a delay in reporting the accident is acceptable?
5. The other car is 15 years old and worth $800-1200 according to KBB. It seems possible that the owner might prefer to have the cost of the repair in cash and either not repair the car or repair it when convenient (since the damage isn't a safety issue). Does offering to write him a check directly, either for the value of an estimate or for a mutually agreed upon amount, change any legal/insurance status?

Please don't tell me that I shouldn't have admitted fault. I think that it mostly was my fault, and paying a few hundred dollars out of pocket is no hardship. I would just rather avoid the insurance hike.

Buying a car to drive round Australia (ish), any recommendations please?

debord — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:11:15 -0800

Buying a car to drive round Australia (ish), any recommendations please? I'm making the big trip up the coast from Sydney to Brisbane in August and I want to get a decent car that's not going to die.

I'd like to get a Saab but I'm scared that rural garages won't be able to fix it if it all goes wrong?

I have been told it's a good idea to get a Japanese car as they are reliable, but I think I would rather have somethign built like a tank in case there are rogue kangaroos / drunk children driving on the road.

Any help would be great.

E-ZPass - not so easy

trillian — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:39:23 -0800

Why did our E-ZPass account charge us for tolls in NJ and DE when we definitely weren't driving anywhere outside of NYS at the time? Will they believe us when we dispute the tolls? My husband and I have a new E-ZPass account in New York State. We have only used it once so far, driving on the NYS Thruway. However, when my husband logged into our account today, he saw charges for tolls in New Jersey and Delaware. These expensive tolls were definitely NOT incurred by us -- it's impossible because we have never taken the E-ZPass out of New York. The website tells us to dispute the charges in writing, but what are the chances they'll actually believe us? If they don't, do we just contact our credit card company for help? Advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation is much appreciated!

I'd like to avoid a collision!

jujube — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:50:56 -0800

Driving etiquette Filter: On a two-lane limited access road, when would the left lane be considered thru-traffic lane versus the passing lane? I know that there isn't a hard and fast rule, just wondering about a rule-of-thumb type driving etiquette as well as expected motorist behavior, so I don't get into an accident.

Where I'm from, the limited access roads are usually interstate highways, with two lanes of traffic each way. So the right lane is the regular speed lane, and the left lane is the passing lane. Entry onto, and exit off of, the road only occurs every 10 miles or so, if that. And traffic is usually minimal, so using the left lane as a passing lane makes sense, because there isn't enough traffic to fill up both lanes. And when you saw cars exiting or entering, you moved over to the left lane to give them room, then got back into the right lane. And if you had a slow car, you simply passed them.
Life was good.

Unfortunately, I now find myself in perpetual traffic hell, known to some as New Jersey. Here, the limited access roads have on/off ramps practically every mile, sometimes even more frequent than that. Many are in a clover leaf pattern, where the entering car has to merge onto traffic in a very short amount of space while navigating the cars that are driving through, and the cars that are exiting. Also, the traffic is very high, such that both lanes are usually filled up with cars.

Given this situation, do people assume that the right lane is for exiting/entering and left lane is for thru-traffic? Or that the right lane is for entering/exiting/regular speed cars, and the left lane is for cars going above the speed limit? Or, do people really expect that the left lane is the passing lane?

Also, if there is a left-lane exit, is the left lane still the "above the speed-limit" lane?

I'd love to hear from people who have driven in these high-density situations that I'm describing, and have survived with their sanity in tact.

Thanks.

What kind of car did you buy for your new teen driver?

sandra194 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:16:12 -0800

Daughter is 16 and got her license a few months ago--she had her permit for a year before that and drove often with us (parents). So now we are looking at used cars for her--preferably under 10K, safe and decent city driving gas mileage. Of course she has her ideas--BMW, Jeep, Infinity, etc. Yeah right.

Are there any sites that offer driving recommendations?

Deathalicious — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:51:58 -0800

Are there any sites that offer driving recommendations? I don't mean driving directions, I mean sites that offer tips and tricks for more pleasant ways to go from point A to point B, or that provide information and tips about specific interstates, freeways, highways, and roads. Tomorrow I'm taking a trip from Philadelphia down to Virginia. Google maps says take I95, but I'm fairly sure that taking I81, though a greater distance, will avoid the potential nightmare that is the beltway on a Friday afternoon. Beyond that, however, I really don't know what's better: do I stay on I81 the whole way and then take I64 East? Or are there state roads/highways that offer a more scenic, pleasant, or stress-free trip?

So, I'm wondering if there is a "Chowhounds" for driving...a place where expert/practiced car travelers share their collective wisdom about the best way to get from one place to another. Reports on individual roads would be great too, especially if they're updated regularly enough that information like construction is listed there on a timely basis, or at least more timely than Google (Here in Philly Google Maps routinely tells me to take a street that is not only currently partially roadblocked, but also takes ages to drive on).

Piggyback question: I know a lot of people swear by those in-car GPS tools like TomTom. Is it possible to use factors like "low traffic" or "pleasant scenery" when calculating a route? Is getting one of those worth-while?

From DC to Dallas.

SNWidget — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:20:38 -0800

My girlfriend and I are moving across the country, from DC to the metro Dallas area. I've never moved cross-country on this scale, so what tips/advice/warnings can you give me about this sort of move? The Background: My girlfriend and I are moving to the Dallas are so that I can begin graduate school in Denton, TX. She'll be working in downtown Dallas, so we'll be trying to live some place that splits the distance.

The Equipment: We've got 1br worth of stuff, with our largest item being a leather sofa that she got cheap and isn't too keen to part with. I have a pick-up truck that we'll use for the drive, and we can get some, but not all, of the small stuff in there.

The Question: How do we do this? I've read past questions on cross country moving to get an idea, but I'm still a bit overwhelmed. Should I get a pod, a portion of a truck, or just get a Penske truck and drive it to Dallas?

The Bonus Question: Any suggestions on where to live in Dallas? I'm a Texas boy originally, but from the Rio Grade Valley, not the big city. We were looking in Carrolton, Flour Mound, or Lewisville. We're generally looking for nice apartments (generally, 1br+study/extra room) and are willing to spend basically up to $1200 to get something.

Et cetra: Beyond any of this, any general cross country moving/driving/packing tips are more than welcomed. I'm in the dark, generally, so I throw myself to the mercy of the Hivemind.

Is that a UFO or just some guy in a BMW?

le morte de bea arthur — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:02:09 -0800

I've noticed that many cars seem to have headlights that change colour depending on angle. Is this deliberate or unintentional, and how do I avoid buying bulbs that do this? What I've observed is that these colour changes occur as the road rises and falls, or as I round a bend. This is not a subtle effect - I see all kinds of vivid colours flashing in my rear view mirror. I find this very distracting. At just the right angle these lights can briefly mimic the lights of an emergency vehicle, which is obviously not a good thing.

My initial guess is this is due to chromatic aberration or something, rather than being intentional. But is it? Can anyone enlighten me further? Are these things legal (specifically in the UK)? What should I look for in a new set of headlight bulbs so that other drivers won't curse me at night?

Driving vs. Buses in Costa Rica?

zach4000 — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:47:59 -0800

I am going to Costa Rica in November for one week. What are the advantages of renting a car vs. using public transportation? We will be going for about 1 week, and plan to be on the move alot. We would like to go to the volcano at Poas...Monteverde...and would like to hit the beach at Montezuma.

As with everything, money is a consideration but we managed to find a decent 4 x 4 for about $300/week (with insurance).

Any hints/advice/explanations/experiences on the matter would be awesome.

Which is best for the environment: driving or flying?

JPDD — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:56:27 -0800

Is it better for the environment to drive or fly a long distance? I'm currently in Baton Rouge, LA and plan on returning to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for a couple of weeks over Christmas and I'm wondering if driving or flying would be better in terms of global warming and other environmental impacts. If I fly I would use a commercial carrier and it would involve at least two hops as there are no direct flights. If I drive I would use our 2001 automatic transmission Toyota Corolla and spend a night or two in a motel. I would be the only person in the car.

I was under the impression that driving was something like 30x better in part because flying deposits pollutants directly into the atmosphere but I just heard something on the NPR Environment podcast cites thegreenguide.com as saying driving is 2x worse than flying. I couldn't find anything on their site to that effect however.

So which is best? Flying or driving? I realize that the train is probably best and I may end up doing that.

Gimme brakes

dancinglamb — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:33:18 -0800

Teach me the best way to drive to save my brakes I just had to replace the front brake pads -- for the second time -- on my beloved '05 Volvo XC90. It has just a hair over 37,000 miles on it. When I asked what the deal was in having to replace the pads again so recently (they were fully replaced at about 12-14k), the service guy commented that a lot of it has to do with 'how a person drives, where they drive, and what's in the car when they're driving'.

Any truth to this? For the record, I do mostly "Mom driving" (stop and go, 20-45pmh) around town, although it's not unusual for me to do longer runs on weekends on highways at higher ( consistent, 65-75mph) speeds. With regard to what's in the car, well, mostly, me, two little kids, sometimes a couple dogs, etc. It's not like I'm hauling anything truly interesting. It's a no-brainer that it's the stop and go nonsense that's killing me and my brakes. But at over $500 a pop, I need suggestions on how to make these babies last.

How to get the most out of driving a car regularly?

lalochezia — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:10:45 -0800

How do you deal with or adapt to Car Culture? Tips on driving, things to do in/with the car, strategies to deal with traffic, autos, parking, life-on-the-road in general please. Also: any specific Southern California driving/car advice. So, I'm moving to east-of-LA from NYC. I've lived without a car for nearly 15 years: in those years, I've driven, on average, one day a month, with some years where I've driven once or twice. Now I'll be driving every day, for my commute, errands, social activities, etc.

I've narrowed my list of cars to buy based on Consumer reports and trawling the web, bought a GPS that reads audiobooks to me, have my insurance lined up. I'm a confident and reasonably skilled driver, but will happily take advice from seasoned veterans about techniques for driving. More specifically:

What other things can I do now and what good habits can I get into to make driving efficient, fun, safe and a positive rather than a negative?

I'd be particularly interested if anyone knows of resources/articles on how-to-live-life-behind-wheels-nicely.

Public asphalt for insane driving

revmitcz — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:04:47 -0800

Looking for an abandoned/public military base or old airstrip, for crazy driving experiences and to teach a friend some things My stepfather used to talk about how, living in Colorado when he was young, he and his friends would go to old/abandoned military bases and drive around on the smooth asphalt, learning things like how to recover from an out-of-control skid, how much distance is covered when braking from 60mph, etc.

I've always thought that would be fun and, living in SoCal, I know there's gotta be plenty of bases (and the like) around here that I might use for such a purpose. I'd also like to teach a friend of mine how to drive stick (beyond just trolling through parking lots late at night).

This is somewhat similar to this question, and it yielded a great link to the Center for Land Use Interpretation, but nothing specifically says "you can drive like a jackass around here, and no one will bother you".

Sure, there's racetracks and driving courses for this kind of thing - but they're like $600+ a day and they take the fun out of me going all renegade and just learning it on my own.

So, it's a 3-part question.

1. Does anyone know of a place where I could just go nuts and drive around with enough room to skid, swerve, etc. that's close to Los Angeles/Hollywood? (I'm thinking, for instance, of the kinds of places that the Mythbusters use in their driving/car myths)

2. Is there a way to do this for free (or with very little cash), provided I'm doing it on public/unused land?

3. Would I be better served calling places like this and saying "can I come out there and drive all crazy, heavy-braking, skidding, etc. on your airstrip?"

If I find a place like this, I'd be more than happy to grab video of my driving fun and post details for anyone looking to do something similar.

What is the best way to live-blog a cross-country road trip??

tarthur — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:40:01 -0800

What is the best method & location for live-blogging a cross country trip using a MacBook, DSLR camera, DV camera, t-mobile EDGE and intermittent wifi? I'm about to drive/move back to Southern California from Central Florida with my boyfriend and we want to document the trip with photos/video 'live' as we progress across the United States. Our travels will bring us up through New Jersey, Chicago, Denver with a stop at the Grand Canyon.

I have a t-mobile phone capable of EDGE (slow but useable) data transfer for the Mac and plan on stopping at wifi equipped locations to upload video/photos. A GPS type hookup would be sweet but I'm not familiar with doing that with a Mac.

It would be nice to have some type of map showing progress (GPS preferred but manually updated OK), the ability to post photos, gas prices, mood and other utterly useless information.

Has anyone had any experience with this type of blogging? I'm trying to determine if it would be best to use my limited skills to build some type of moveable type/wordpress with google + flickr or use something like Vox.

Thanks!